For four years in the mid-19th century, brother fought brother in the terrible conflict between the Union and the Confederacy, an epic historical drama indelibly marked by a remarkable cast of characters, brilliant military maneuvers, and mind-boggling blunders on and off the battlefield. With suitable irreverence, Bill Fawcett chronicles some of the disastrous decisions made by both sides, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, where Robert E. Lee looks smart beating a remarkably stupid general; how Union Colonel James Ripley's shortsighted decision armed the Confederate Army better than his own; and how Lee failed to exploit a golden opportunity to capture Washington, D.C.